So, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) was just named to be the chairman of the Subcommittee on Space, Science, and Competitiveness as Republicans take over the Senate. This subcommittee (which used to be just Space and Science but was recently renamed) is in charge of oversight of, among other things, NASA. This is not a good thing. Just how bad it is will be determined. Before I rip into this, I want to be as fair as possible here: Poking around the Web, I don’t see any statements from Cruz that I'd consider directly antithetical to NASA’s efforts specifically to explore space. For example, in 2013 he wanted to reduce NASA’s budget, but that was more so that it would comply with the caps set by the Budget Control Act.
The governor's secretary of transportation discussed with Southern California city leaders Thursday night an unprecedented state bill that would authorize a first-ever pilot program to tax motorists by vehicle miles traveled, according to the chief executive officer of the Southern California Association of Governments.
The California Legislature is looking at a voluntary program that would tax motorists for every mile they drive.